Posted on October 11, 2019
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI
Starke County Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Larry Wickert recently informed the North Judson Town Council that the owner of the grocery store on Lane Street is looking to sell.
When officials met Monday night, Wickert noted that he and Council members Josh Brown and James Young recently met with the store owner and their financial advisor. Wickert added that he informed them he would work to help locate a potential buyer.
Some concerns were expressed about the fact that the listing is difficult to find and that the sale is not being advertised sufficiently because not many people are even aware that it’s being sold.
Councilman Brown mentioned that the North Judson building is currently being bundled in a sale with two other grocery stores in Rensselaer and Francesville. He said he talked with the realtor about selling it individually and was told that it could be a possibility.
Executive Director Wickert noted that there is one option that could be considered if they can get enough people interested in leading the effort.
He explained, “I know a couple of people in our Stellar group participated in a conference somewhere and they talked about Co-Ops kind of picking up in small communities like this.”
He continued “I don’t know if that would be a feasible thing here but you’d have enough people who would be interested to kind of join together. If you right people who would want to do that, that would be one way to keep it going here, run locally.”
Wickert noted that he also intends to reach out to some chain stores to see if they would be interested in the sale.
If you know of anyone who would be interested in purchasing the building that sits adjacent to North Judson Town Hall on Lane Street, contact the SCEDF Office at 574-772-5627.
Showing posts with label Heartland Grocery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heartland Grocery. Show all posts
Friday, October 11, 2019
Thursday, March 10, 2016
SCEDF Touts Success in Combating Food Deserts in North Judson
Giving residents easy access to healthy food choices is a challenge in many of the rural communities in the local area, but during the past year, officials in Starke County found a way to keep one town’s grocery store open.
When North Judson’s only grocery store was faced with closure a year ago, the Starke County Economic Development Foundation stepped in to help the town council attract a new buyer, according to the foundation’s executive director Charlie Weaver, “The town was looking for methodology that they could help, and working with them, the Development Foundation suggested that the town create a revolving loan fund, which the town did and actually loaned $50,000 to Heartland Grocery to acquire the cooling displays, the refrigerated units and that sort of thing in the store.” The Starke County Economic Development Foundation also worked with NIPSCO to find an incentive program to make the lighting systems in the store’s refrigerated display cases more energy-efficient.
Last week, Weaver traveled to Indianapolis to share his foundation’s experience with other economic development leaders from around Indiana. He presented his findings during a panel discussion on food deserts at the Indiana Economic Development Association’s spring conference. In rural areas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture considers a community a food desert if it’s more than 10 miles from a grocery store.
Weaver says the closure of local grocery stores not only makes it harder to find fresh foods, but also affects a community’s identity. “We talked about at the conference that there used to be three things that would be the stalwart or the foundation of any town: you used to have a school, you had the local bank, and you had the grocery store,” he says. “So many towns have lost there schools now. You don’t have local banks, generally speaking, decisions are made elsewhere. And the other thing is the grocery store, and once you lose your grocery store, your town’s identity is gone. Your people lose service and all this sort of thing.”
He says North Judson’s experience demonstrates that there are steps local governments can take to stop the growth of food deserts, “We have food deserts in Starke County and food deserts that we’re probably not going to assist. But in North Judson, it was a very successful effort, and that came about because the town council in North Judson, under the leadership of Wendy Hoppe, was very, very cognizant of the fact that losing the only remaining grocery store in North Judson was a real hamper.”
Weaver says the Starke County Economic Development Foundation hopes to be able to help with similar projects in the future.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Heartland Grocery Opens In North Judson
Starke County Economic Development Foundation Announces:
STARKE COUNTY – The North Judson grocery store, previously known as Ray’s Supper Foods, is now under new ownership as of May 26, 2015. The closure of Ray’s Super Foods would have left North Judson without a grocery store. Nathan Origer, a resident of North Judson and the Pulaski County Economic Development Director, had just assisted Heartland Grocery to purchase a store in Francesville and alerted the Starke County Economic Development Foundation (SCEDF) to its interest in Ray’s. Because Heartland had just purchased a story in Francesville, it was left with insufficient capital to fix important amenities at Ray’s.
The North Judson store needed new, efficient lighting, new lighting for coolers, and a new cooling/refrigerator system, among other items. Charles Weaver, executive director of the SCEDF, immediately contacted a NIPSCO Representative for incentives to upgrade lighting fixtures and review the store’s electrical rate structures, and he also recommended to the Town Council of North Judson that it use some of its Economic Development Income Tax funds to create a revolving loan fund to help with the needed improvements.
A revolving loan fund of $50,000 was established by the North Judson Town Council to assist the remodeling and updating of the previous Ray’s Super Foods. NIPSCO is providing incentives to replace the old inefficient lighting fixtures with new highly efficient lighting fixtures in the ceiling and coolers. NIPSCO was able to offer Heartland Grocery a lower rate for power and reduce the required security deposit.
Scott Weaver, a managing partner of SAW Capital LLC, oversaw the purchasing of the new Heartland Market in North Judson and eagerly mentioned that it is a mission of the company to provide for small, local towns like North Judson. The company’s mission is to acquire small town grocery stores to be profitable and serve the county. Further improvements include a new Point of Sale Syste, to make checking out easier, accessible for credit cards, new lighting, painting, and the updating of different areas to make the store more aesthetically pleasing. Scott Weaver was pleased to say, “Without help from Charles Weaver and the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, none of this would have been accomplished. Their knowledge, contacts and incentives helped in many ways. Their awareness of the store in North Judson and supportive nature made this purchase possible. I, this company, and the town are grateful for what the Starke County Economic Development Foundation helped achieve.” With the help from SCEDF, NIPSCO and the North Judson Town Council, the Heartland store is open for business.
Heartland Grocery Opens In North Judson
STARKE COUNTY – The North Judson grocery store, previously known as Ray’s Supper Foods, is now under new ownership as of May 26, 2015. The closure of Ray’s Super Foods would have left North Judson without a grocery store. Nathan Origer, a resident of North Judson and the Pulaski County Economic Development Director, had just assisted Heartland Grocery to purchase a store in Francesville and alerted the Starke County Economic Development Foundation (SCEDF) to its interest in Ray’s. Because Heartland had just purchased a story in Francesville, it was left with insufficient capital to fix important amenities at Ray’s.
The North Judson store needed new, efficient lighting, new lighting for coolers, and a new cooling/refrigerator system, among other items. Charles Weaver, executive director of the SCEDF, immediately contacted a NIPSCO Representative for incentives to upgrade lighting fixtures and review the store’s electrical rate structures, and he also recommended to the Town Council of North Judson that it use some of its Economic Development Income Tax funds to create a revolving loan fund to help with the needed improvements.
A revolving loan fund of $50,000 was established by the North Judson Town Council to assist the remodeling and updating of the previous Ray’s Super Foods. NIPSCO is providing incentives to replace the old inefficient lighting fixtures with new highly efficient lighting fixtures in the ceiling and coolers. NIPSCO was able to offer Heartland Grocery a lower rate for power and reduce the required security deposit.
Scott Weaver, a managing partner of SAW Capital LLC, oversaw the purchasing of the new Heartland Market in North Judson and eagerly mentioned that it is a mission of the company to provide for small, local towns like North Judson. The company’s mission is to acquire small town grocery stores to be profitable and serve the county. Further improvements include a new Point of Sale Syste, to make checking out easier, accessible for credit cards, new lighting, painting, and the updating of different areas to make the store more aesthetically pleasing. Scott Weaver was pleased to say, “Without help from Charles Weaver and the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, none of this would have been accomplished. Their knowledge, contacts and incentives helped in many ways. Their awareness of the store in North Judson and supportive nature made this purchase possible. I, this company, and the town are grateful for what the Starke County Economic Development Foundation helped achieve.” With the help from SCEDF, NIPSCO and the North Judson Town Council, the Heartland store is open for business.
ABOUT SCEDF
The Starke County Development Foundation is a not-for-profit local economic development organization (LEDO) providing economic development opportunities on behalf of Starke County, Indiana, the City of Knox, and the Towns of North Judson and Hamlet through the development of industrial parks, rail spurs, greenfield sites, shovel-ready sites, infrastructure and workforce development. For more information regarding Starke County Development Foundation, visit www.starkecounty.com.
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